MUĞLA – Anatolia News Agency
Some 120 forest fires that swept across 220 hectares of land were intentionally started.
Nearly half of all forest fires that have broken out in Turkey this year were caused by reckless and neglectful behavior, largely in the use of flammable substances and the making of bonfires, according to reports.
Close to 1,200 forest fires ravaged Turkey’s landscape during the first eight months of 2011, damaging a total of about 2,400 hectares of land, according to information provided by the General Directorate of Forestry. Almost 500 of these fires, affecting nearly 1,000 hectares, were caused by neglectful behavior.
Some 120 forest fires that swept across 220 hectares of land were intentionally started, while the causes behind some 400 forest fires this year were unidentified. The remaining forest fires broke out either due to natural causes or accidents.
Western provinces with shorelines on the Aegean Sea suffered the worst of the inferno, with Muğla and İzmir provinces subject to the greatest number of forest fires. The largest tracts of land damaged by forest fires in the country were in Çanakkale.
A total of 167 forest fires broke out in Muğla, damaging 130 hectares, while 145 broke out in İzmir, sweeping through 213 hectares. Twenty-five forest fires in Çanakkale burned through more than 300 hectares of land.
The total number of forest fires in the country and the overall amount of land damaged are both reportedly on the decline, however. During the same period last year, there were 1,300 forest fires affecting nearly 2,600 hectares of land.
(Source: www.hurriyetdailynews.com )